calculated ignorance: Week 2

What an exciting week! Lots of new experiences for me.

This week was full of early mornings and late night. It was getting old, fast. I would be up at 4:30am and wouldn't get back to my room until typically 8:00pm, with the day's temperatures averaging out in the mid-90's. Each day, we jump in the back of a LMTV (big triple axle Army vehicle to carry cargo or about 16 troops, that requires a ladder to get up in it) which usually felt like a sauna, and went to different ranges with our M4, the Army's current assault rifle of choice. Not sure what it is about those LMTV's, maybe a combination of the heat and vibrations, but it always made us fall asleep.

Friday was qualification day. I qualified on my first try, shooting 30 out of 40 targets. 5 less than when I first qualified at basic training 3 years ago, but my top excuses are: time prep differences, wind, and (the classic) there was dirt in my eye...take your pick. Not pleased with my score, but it was just a box to check on the list towards graduation, and not evaluated for class rankings or anything. Here's a picture of the qualification range, which is the nicest range I've ever seen on an Army post:

Last weekend, I went to my cousin's (Rodeny and Shannell) BBQ at their house about 70 miles from Ft. Sill. Rod cooked some amazing Oklahoma grub, and Shannell and I got to reminisce about old times with another cousin, Mark Jr.

Mark Jr., Shannell, and Mark Jr's kiddos

This weekend, I met up with Shannell and Rodney at Ft. Cobb State Park to jump on the boat. The weather here can be unpredictable, and as you can see below, can be VERY different on each side of the road. As we're rolling, you can see lightning flashes nearby...not the most settling thing. We don't stop, and neither do the other 50 boats, so I guess it's normal around here.

They brought me a "tube," in case it was too rough to knee board (It was too rough, but we did it anyway). This isn't your typical tube...this is something you float down the Willamette on. It had 8 points where rope went through, attached to the tow rope with a stainless-steel carabiner. I had my doubts, but it worked! As you can see below, I'm leaning a bit too far...This tube isn't very forgiving, and about 1 second later, I leaned over too far and drank some dirty Oklahoma lake water.

The lightning was right behind me and a little more off to the right.

Ok, I may have led you astray...The week wasn't that exciting. The weekdays were very repetitive and fatiguing. Weekends were way better, and that's where the new experiences come into play. I do however love the sunsets and sunrises here in OK. This place smells funny, it seeps out of the ground when it rains, but there is some beauty out here, but the beautiful colors at the beginning and end of the day makes it worth it. Here are a couple examples: